CoreLife Eatery closes both Long Island stores

Fast-casual salad spots have been multiplying across Long Island, a trend so fervent that 2024 was shaping up to be the year of the takeout salad joint. Yet amid the hype, a well-known player just pulled out of the Long Island market. 

CoreLife Eatery, based in Syracuse, opened two locations on Long Island in 2018, the first in Farmingdale's Airport Plaza and the second in the main dining district of Garden City. Both sold their last salad, broth and grain bowls in late March, said Scott Davis, CoreLife's president. 

The stores were owned by the same group of local franchisees, which will “continue to look for other opportunities in the area,” he said.

Davis attributed the closings to the high real estate costs in the Long Island market, and said that the pandemic changed their business models and made them more reliant on takeout. But the sales weren't enough to offset the rent prices.

And despite the large number of salad chains now operating in the Long Island area, he said that competition wasn't an issue. “It's a challenging environment, especially with high costs, but there's always competition,” he said. 

CoreLife has stronger sales and more franchisees in upstate New York, where it's based, Davis said. The company, founded in 2015, boasts dozens of locations in Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan.